Under the School-to-Work Opportunities Act of 1994, Florida was awarded a five-year grant to implement the state’s school-to-work (STW) system. Twenty-eight regional STW partnerships were developed based on existing education, job training, and labor markets. The partnerships reflect the 28 community college service areas and encompass all 67 school districts in the State. In 1996, School-to-Work was designated by the Florida Legislature as one of four key workforce development strategies and the strategy focusing on the initial preparation of the workforce. In school-to-work, academic and career preparation are integrated to support the career goals of all students.

The Progress Measures Survey was developed by consensus nationally, in conjunction with implementation states, to capture data on activities at the local partnership level. These activities include career awareness activities in elementary schools, career exploration activities in middle schools, school-based and work-based learning activities in secondary schools, and employer involvement in local school-to-work activities. The survey data are aggregated first at the state level in order to provide timely information to Florida policy makers and program administrators. The surveys are also submitted to MPR Associates, Inc. in Berkeley, California for inclusion in the national survey report.

Progress Measures data were first reported in July of 1996. This report provides information on the progress made by Florida’s 28 partnerships between 1997 and 1998 and is based upon data provided for the time periods July 1, 1996 – June 30, 1997 and July 1, 1997 – June 30, 1998. 100% of the partnerships completed the survey in both years. Also, consistency in both the survey content and reporting periods allow meaningful comparisons to be made between the two years.

It should be noted that not every partnership has the capacity to provide data on every measure, as evidenced by the responses in the detail report in each section. Also, changes in the level of activities reported between 1997 and 1998 may, in part, reflect corrections in the data by the partnerships. Many coordinators continue to report problems with data collection, including the difficulty of coordinating and motivating people to collect and report data accurately across schools and levels within districts, the slowness or lack of MIS system improvements, and changes in personnel. These issues are more problematic in partnerships with multiple districts. Despite the problems encountered in the partnerships, with each reporting cycle an increase in the quality of the survey data has been evident. This reflects the value that coordinators place on meaningful information, and their efforts and cooperation with the Institute for Workforce Competitiveness are greatly appreciated.

Final Report May 1999.  Prepared by the Institute for Workforce Competitiveness for the State of Florida Department of Education.

Send comments to IWC at xiwc@fiu.edu.
Copyright © 1997 by Institute for Workforce Competitiveness.
Revised: June 08, 1999.